The New Black Ranger
by Aiden Ravelle
Summary: Carlos is hurt and put in a coma. Who is the new black ranger that's appeared?
1. Chapter 1

It's funny how everyone thinks I follow Bulk all the time and would be clueless without him. If people came into our apartment, they'd learn it's the opposite. He's had some good ideas over the years and he is a great guy, even if others think he's not. Most of his ideas get us in trouble, or just end badly. However, now that we are graduated and have an apartment to pay for, one of us needs to make some money and be responsible. Most days, I follow Bulk around like normal, and go through with his ideas to make him feel like he's helping. On weekends, I've been driving about an hour away to give piano lessons, as well as working a few overnight shifts at a local fast food place.

Bulk is the worst at getting up, so every morning I knock on his bedroom door and try to wake him up. However, that morning, I let him sleep in, as it was a lesson day. He'd fill out job applications later just like he had every weekend for the past 6 months. I hoped that week he gets one.

I closed the door to the house and made sure it's locked. Thanks to one of Bulky's schemes, my car ended up 20 minutes away so I had to leave even earlier to walk to it. Oh well, at least I was getting some exercise in.

Just as I passed by an alleyway, I heard a moan. I looked back into the alley and notice, the black space ranger fighting, what looked to be himself. I noticed the difference between the suits was one had the squares blacked out while the other didn't. I hid around the corner, watching as much as I could. The black ranger, who had the color squares, kept getting knocked down, and seemed like he was losing.  
"Where are the other rangers?" I wondered.

After a few more minutes of watching him get beaten up, I glanced at my watch and decided to be late to lessons and help him. I grabbed a trash can and throw it at the evil ranger.

I reached my hand out to help the ranger up.

"Thanks," he said.

We tried to tag team the evil ranger, and we got him knocked down a few times. However, he hit my chest, knocking me down and causing me to hit my head. Everything blacked out.


	2. Chapter 2

I awoke, my eyes blurred together, not wanting to focus. I watch as the evil ranger hits the good ranger, who gets knocked down hard. He demorphed.

That was not who I expected.

"Carlos?" I asked. He was hurt bad. He didn't look like he could even stand.

"Finally, the psycho rangers have defeated a power ranger!" The evil ranger said as he disappeared in thin air.

"Skull," Carlos said, trying to get me to come closer.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"I'm not going to make it," he admitted.

"Don't say that. Let's get you out of here, you'll be fine," I fake a smile, trying to stay positive. I've never watched someone die before, and I've never seen a ranger not win.

"Listen, please take this," he took off his morpher and handed it to me. I felt an energy surge through me. "You helped a lot in this battle, and I know you could help a lot defeating the psycho rangers." Carlos coughed as he lost more energy. "Just please, don't let it get in the wrong hands."

I nodded, words choking in my throat. I tried to say more, or do more, but I couldn't. His chest heaved, and then he was motionless.

I kneeled there for a few minutes in shock. I decided to try morphing and maybe then I could get to the other rangers. They needed to know about Carlos.

I stood up, and pressed the buttons Carlos has whispered minutes before. Suddenly, a surge of energy hit me and I was covered in black. I lifted Carlos's body and pressed the second set of numbers I could remember. Suddenly, I was in a weird room. There were controls everywhere, along with many lights and buttons.

Suddenly, a strange robot came up, "Oh no, Carlos." He took Carlos's body and left the room. He did not acknowledge me at all. I felt so out of place and wished I could go home. Or even go teach my piano lessons. Home. Bulk. I couldn't tell Bulk about this. But I couldn't not tell him. He's like my brother, and he's my best friend. I tell him almost everything.

Finally the little robot came back. This time he finally acknowledged me, "The rangers should get back soon, and we can get this figured out. Carlos had a low pulse, we might be able to get him back. I am Alpha 6 by the way."

"He didn't die?" I asked. I thought I saw him die. I was relieved that he was still alive, but who knows if he would make it after that fight.

I wondered if the robot knew who I was, and I was starting to wonder who the other rangers could be, if Carlos was the black ranger. It was all such a shock, that I didn't know what to think. I had a million thoughts a second.

Finally, it seemed like hours later, the four other rangers came running into the room. I was in a corner, and they didn't seem to notice me.

"What's going on alpha? Why don't you want us to dimorph?" The yellow ranger asked.

Alpha hesitated.

"Come on Alpha, out with it," the pink ranger prodded.

Alpha looked at me and said, "While you were out fighting the red, blue and yellow psycho rangers, Carlos was attacked by the black psycho ranger."

"You ok?" the red ranger asked me.

I couldn't say anything or even respond.

"Rangers," Alpha got their attention, "That isn't Carlos. I have him in the healing chamber, but he might have been too far gone to save, it'll take time to see."

"What? How? Then who is this?" The pink ranger responded.

"Maybe he's a bad guy who stole Carlos's morpher," the blue suggested. I had to speak up.

"No, I tried to help him, I really did, but we were overpowered. He gave me the morpher to keep it safe," I pleaded for them to believe me.

Everyone took a minute of silence, trying to figure out what to say next.

"Deca, did you get any recording of the fight?" The red ranger asked. A voice responded, "Yes. And he is telling the truth."

"I don't know if I can watch it, I mean, especially if we don't know if he'll live," the yellow ranger admitted.

"For now, we can just hope. This'll take time to figure out and adjust to, but whoever this is, is the new black ranger, we just have to accept that and go from there," the blue ranger unmorphed. It was Carlos's friend TJ. They seemed like best friends, this must be really hard for him.

The rest of the rangers followed, Ashley, Cassie, and that new guy Andros.

"I'm Andros," he started introducing himself.

"I know who you guys all are," I admitted, "Although I never would have guessed you were the rangers."

"Ok, if you know who we are, then who are you?" Cassie asked.

I figured out which buttons to press and my power ranger outfit came off.

"Really, you helped Carlos, and are a ranger? Really?" Ashley said harshly.

TJ and Cassie looked a bit too shocked. After a moment, Andros started talking.

"Guys, maybe he can help us. Not everyone is how they seem. I mean, Karone is Astronema, and she's helped us out before, before they brainwashed her."

The group just nodded, trying to take it all in. I wasn't sure who Karone is, but Astronema helping the rangers seemed a little odd.

"Can we have a minute to talk alone?" Ashley asked, suggesting I leave the room. I nod, and walk into the silver hallway, unsure of what to do. It'd been the most nerve-wracking day of my life.

I sat down outside on the floor, and put my head down to my knees.

After a few minutes, I could hear what they were saying. The ended up watching the recording and seeing how I tried to help Carlos.

"Looks like he can fight, especially if we give him some training," TJ commented.

"How can you comment on that when Carlos almost died?" Cassie asked in response.

"Look, we have Skull right now. You can't say I am not sad about Carlos, he is my best friend, but there's a possibility of him waking up, and with the psycho rangers still out and about, we can't just take time off and wait for Carlos to get better, if he even does. We can't stop fighting, even if one of us is gone," TJ was the voice of reason.

It's been such a crazy day, I don't know if I can do this, but I promised Carlos I'd help the rangers. I zoned out the rest of their conversation, finally feeling exhausted after today's events.

After a while, Andros came out to the hall, "Come on," He offered me his hand to help me up.

I followed him back into the main room and the four of them stood in a row.

Andros started talking, "We've decided that for now, you can stay a ranger."

Ashley continued, "However, there are some conditions."

"You can't tell anyone, including Bulk," Cassie listed the first rule.

"You have to let us train you," TJ added.

"And finally, just give us a chance, and we'll give you one. We don't know you that well, and you are probably in shock, so just learn with us," Andros finished.

I nodded, still unsure what to say. Part of me feels like I could have done more to help Carlos and I wouldn't be in this mess. Part of me knows it has to be this way. Life is about to change in more ways than one.


	3. Chapter 3

I awoke in my bed and remembered everything that happened. Was it a dream? Did I imagine it all? I looked down and noticed some bruises, and I felt sore all over. It was all real. I'm a power ranger. I checked my bedside and make sure the morpher is still there and sighed with relief when it was. I glance at the clock, it's already 3 in the afternoon. I slept all day. How did I even get here? I was on that space craft megaship thing, and now I'm here.

I get dressed, I pick a black long sleeve shirt with dark jeans. I put on a spikey choker necklace and make sure there's an earring still in my ear. I wander out of my bedroom and notice Bulk in the kitchen trying to cook.

"Hey, whatcha making?" I asked.

He turned around and was covered in flour and vegetable slices, "You didn't seem to feel good last night and you slept all day, so I thought I'd try to make you soup to feel better."

"Thanks Bulky," I appreciated the attempt. I tried the soup and added a few more things into it for him.

I took a bowl into the living room and turned on some cartoons. It was nice to zone out a little and not worry about my problems for a bit. After a while Bulk came in the room, having washed the food off of himself, with a bowl of soup for himself. He sat on the other end of the couch and got sucked into the television as well. If ever there was a day to just watch television and not think about life, today was the day.

After a few more hours of zoning out, the marathon ended.

"I have a job interview, so I can't come to the Surf Spot tomorrow," Bulk mentioned.

"That's fine, I don't know if I'll be feeling better anyway," I mention, referring to Bulks belief that I am sick. I might not be sick like he thinks, but I am not feeling well. I have too much on my mind, it hurts. I hurt from the fight. I hurt from worry about Carlos. Yeah I might not have been close to him, but it's scary when you think someone you know dies, especially right in front of you. I'm glad he's not dead, but I hurt because I do not know what to do next.

"Do you want me to make you more soup?" Bulk offers. I shake my head in response. I was surprised he noticed I wasn't feeling good. One time he dragged me somewhere, while I had the flu, and it took him all day to realize I kept throwing up. If he didn't notice that, I must look really bad right now.

I decided to go to bed, maybe I could sleep it off and the next morning everything would be better. When I awoke in my bed, I wasn't feeling much better, but I decided to get up and go about my day. I checked the time, it was 10 am, and it seemed Bulk had already left. Surprising he could get himself up.

I got dressed and decided to head to the Surf Spot for some food.

"Hey man," TJ said as I came in.

"Hi," I said weakly back.

"We wanted to let you know that we got Carlos's heart rate back to normal," Ashley said.

"He might be in a coma for a long time though, if he even wakes up," Cassie mentioned.

"I should have done more," I admitted to them. I felt like I let him down, and I will continue to let him down while I am the black ranger.

"You helped a lot, plus I know someone who was in the healing chamber for 2 years before he woke up. So there is still a chance. Don't give up hope," Andros assured me.

"Later we can give you a full tour of the astro megaship if you'd like," TJ offered to help cheer me up.

"Cool," I agreed. I went to the front to order my food.

As I was ordering, Bulk came in behind me, "Hey Skull." 

I was confused why he was here right now, I had been hoping to join the others, but I asked, "Did you get the job?" 

"They don't know yet, I have to go in for another interview in the next few days," He sounded hopeful.

We grabbed a table and started eating. After a while though, I heard a sound. I looked up, and the group was waving at me to come with them. I didn't know what to say to Bulk, so I faked sick again, "You know Bulkie, I'm not sure if I'm feeling so good. You can have the rest of my food."

I ran off to meet the other rangers.

"There's trouble in the park," Andros informed me.

We went and fought a monster that looked a little like a snowman. It felt good morphing and the others helped me out the best they could. I was also glad that it wasn't the psycho rangers. I was a little wary of them after what happened to Carlos. I know there's a chance he could live, but the psychos put him in a coma. His heart almost stopped. I don't want that or worse to happen to the others if I can't hold my own.

I end up arriving back at the apartment at the same time Bulk did. I pretended I spent most of my time between here and there in the bathroom at the Surf Spot.

Over the next few weeks, I made excuse after excuse to run off. I'd become better friends with the other rangers, and they don't think of me as Bulk and Skull anymore. I am just Skull, my own person. Bulk is my best friend, and I don't mind doing things with him all the time, but it is nice to be considered my own person instead of an extension of someone else.

When I run off, the rangers and I always had to fight a bunch of weird monsters. To be honest, I don't know who comes up with them. Frogs, purses, pigs, sound waves, I'm sure there's one based off of a food too. They all blend together after a while.

We've encountered the psycho rangers a few times in the past few weeks as well, but we've always managed to fight them off. However, we've only managed to destroy one.

I hope our next run in we can destroy them all. They've hurt too many people.


	4. Chapter 4

Bulk and I were watching television when my communicator went off. When I stood up, Bulk asked where I was going.

"I forgot about some piano lessons," I replied running out the door.

The others were getting attacked by three of the psycho rangers.

I was on my way to them when I got stopped by the black psycho ranger.

"What do you want?" I yelled at him.

"To destroy you of course. Pick you off one by one, just like I did the last black ranger. But this time I will take your morpher and make sure no one can be the black ranger again!" 

I sighed, I knew I would have to face him eventually. I forgot he didn't know Carlos was alive.

"Let's Rocket!" I morphed into the black ranger. I got a few strikes in before he knocked me over. I pulled myself back up and attacked again.

After a while, I was starting to get worn out. He just kept coming and coming. I don't know how he had this much energy. Once again he knocked me down. I landed face first into the pavement. It took me a little while longer to get up. I might have even blacked out a few seconds. I turned over to get up and I saw the psycho ranger go to attack once more. However, instead of taking the hit, I saw my best friend, Bulk, step in front and take the attack.

"What are you doing?!" I asked wildly, trying to not sound like myself.

"Helping my best friend," He replied, standing up from the hit.

I attacked a few more times, knocking the psycho down.

"I don't know what you are talking about, but you need to get out of here, now." I sounded kind of harsh. Truth is, I was just worried about my best friend. I didn't want him to get hurt like Carlos did.

He looked at me, "I know it's you Skull."

I stayed silent for a few minutes attacking the psycho and trying to keep Bulk out of harm.

"How do you know?" I wondered.

"I might not be the smartest person, but I got suspicious when you kept running off. At first I thought you had a girlfriend or something, but wondered why you wouldn't have told me that. So eventually, I followed you. I've been watching your fights making sure you were ok. I figured you'd tell me when you were ready. It is a big secret after all. But today I had to step in. Even heroes need saving now and then," He explained while picking up a steel rod and using it to whack the psycho black ranger.

I was a little in shock. I knew my excuses weren't that good, but he never questioned to my face, or treated me any different. I didn't know what to think, he'd been watching me fight. He'd been waiting to help me. I smiled in my helmet. It was good to have a best friend I could count on.

"Thanks Bulk," I yelled, while throwing a massive blow to the psycho.

After a few more hits, I had an idea. "Let's try that move we learned in training camp," I referred to the time we joined the junior police department, and had to go through weeks of training. We never fully perfected the move, but I knew if we could pull it off, we could defeat him.

Bulk lifted me up, I pulled out my lunar lance. I stood on his shoulders and handed him my blaster. We double teamed, me spinning off his shoulders, and getting three hits in with the lance. Then he got a few shots in with the blaster and I finished him with a few more hits of my lance.

He exploded, leaving multiple pieces of him around the area. I waited a few moments to see if he would grow big, like many of our opponents do, but fortunately he didn't.

I demorphed, "Thanks Bulky," I hugged my friend.

"Anytime man," he responded, "Just don't keep secrets from me again."

I was about to start telling him about my adventures as a ranger, when I remembered the others. We had 3 more psychos to defeat, unless they had while I was tied up.

"I have to go take care of something," I said running off leaving Bulk alone again. 

"Go save the world buddy!" Bulk responded.

I ran and I ran until I got to the park. The rangers weren't doing too well, getting tired from the fight. Even if we could just momentarily defeat them, it'd be better than nothing. Save the fight off for another day.

We tried our hardest, and defeated two more of them. The only one left was the red psycho ranger. He retreated for the day, but we still got three of them down.

"Let's get back to the megaship," Cassie suggested.

We got up to the ship and I decided to tell them about Bulk.

"Hey guys, I'm sorry I didn't get there sooner. I was held up by the black psycho ranger," I started my story.

"Are you ok man?" TJ asked, knowing how I had been a little afraid of the black psycho since I became a ranger.

I nodded in response, "However, Bulk knows I am a ranger." 

"You told him?" Ashley asked.

"No, he pieced it together, but he actually helped me fight," I mentioned.

"Does he know who the rest of the rangers are?" Andros asked.

"I don't know. He'd been following me during a few fights, he could have seen any of us morph. But he helped me, and he's my best friend, I think our secret is safe," I assured.

"The only thing I would be worried about is if Astronema saw him help you, she might go after him," Andros said.

"It's a possibility, but she might have no use for him," Cassie tried to help me from worrying.

I nodded. I wish he didn't know. I mean, if he didn't help me I could be dead, but I'd rather be dead than him in danger. It's what it means to be a best friend. I pushed the thought out of my head.

"Let's go get some pizza to celebrate our victory!" TJ suggested.

We made some pizza and had a little party before heading off our separate ways. I was tired by the end of it, so I decided to just teleport home. When I arrived, Bulk wasn't there.


	5. Chapter 5

Bulk was always home when I'm not out with him. Unless he had a job or interview. But this late at night he should be home.

I thought of Andros's words earlier, "Astronema might go after him."

I figured I'd wait a while before alerting the others, I might be overreacting…

I ended up falling asleep on the couch waiting for him. But I woke up around 2 am.

He still wasn't home.

I decided to go have deca and alpha help me, the others were probably asleep by now. I teleported onto the megaship.

"Skull? What are you doing here this early?" Alpha asked concerned.

"Bulk never came home last night. I thought you could help me look for him," I said worried.

"Let's see what we can do," Alpha started a search on the computer, "It'll take a while to locate him, so you might want to sit down." He noticed that I had started pacing.

I decided to go check on Carlos. I had seen the outside of the door so I knew where it was, but I had not been able to go inside yet.

It was dark inside, but it looked like the table around Carlos was glowing. He looked like he was simply sleeping, not like he had been hurt or that he was in a coma and might never wake up. That gave me some hope; if he could survive from this, Bulk could survive from whatever Astronema threw at him.

I sat next to him a while, and started talking. I wasn't sure if he could hear me but I decided to talk anyway.

"Carlos, I guess I didn't know you well. And I understand, it's hard to have friends outside of the rangers when all you do is fight evil," I paused, "I'm glad I got to become a ranger, but I feel like this is my fault. Bulk is probably kidnapped because of me, I could have helped more and prevented you getting hurt, I could have done so much more, but at least I finally defeated the black psycho for you. I got revenge for you. It just doesn't feel like it was enough," I confessed.

After a few minutes of silence, I saw his hand twitch. Or at least I thought I saw it twitch.

"Carlos?" I asked, hoping I wasn't imagining things.

He started to move his arm, and finally, his eyes opened. It was a little bit of a struggle for him to sit up, but he looked around confused.

"Skull?" He asked.

I nodded, shocked that he woke up. 

"Why am I in the healing chamber?" he asked still confused.

"You don't remember?" I recalled the events of what happened, "You almost died."

He started to remember, "I gave you the morpher, you are the black ranger." 

I nodded, "I can give it back if you want," I'd be sad giving it up, but it was his first.

"We can talk about that later, where are the others?" He asked.

"It's early in the morning they are sleeping," I mentioned.

"Ah," he nodded, "Can you help me walk around a bit? I feel kind of stiff."

I chuckled, I'm sure that laying in a bed for over a month could do that to you. He put his arm around me, and I helped walk him to the bridge.

"Carlos?!" Alpha exclaimed. He awkwardly hugged Carlos.

"Hey Alpha," he smiled.

I remembered our search, "Alpha?" I pulled him away from Carlos, "What did you find?" 

"He's not on earth, Skull. I'm sorry," Alpha confessed.

I sat down and put my head in my hands.

"Who isn't on earth?" Carlos asked.

"Bulk. Bulk is gone. He found out I was the black ranger, and he helped me defeat psycho black. We thought Astronema might use him against us, and it seems like we were right," I said sadly, with my head still in my hands.

"Hey, you helped me out before, you can help Bulk out now," Carlos tried to cheer me up.

"I feel like I didn't help you enough before. You wouldn't have been in that coma and we wouldn't be in this mess now," I admitted how I felt.

"If you hadn't helped me, I might be dead," Carlos said.

When he said that, an idea popped into my head. He might be dead. They think he is dead. We could use that to our advantage.

"Carlos, I have an idea," I started, he turned toward me listening. Alpha came over to listen as well. "Astronema, and her cronies, all think you are dead. Now I could go to her, give myself up, trade the black ranger for Bulk. Bulk would be safe, and she'd have me. You could keep him safe on the ship and I could find a way to escape. However, you would have the morpher, so even if I can't escape, she won't get the powers, and Bulk would be free." The idea finished forming in my head.

"You can't give yourself up, what if she hurts you?" Carlos tried to talk me out of it.

"He's my best friend. I have to try. Just let me try, and if I don't make it out myself, don't come after me, I don't want anyone getting hurt," I said honestly, trying to convince him.

"Alright," he accepted, "But I think we should run it by the rest of the group."

Before I could respond, the alarms started going off.

The group ran in, half asleep.

"Carlos!" Ashley squeeled.

"Hey man!" TJ hugged his best friend.

"Hey guys," Carlos responded.

"What are you doing here this early?" Cassie asked me.

"Guys, we have other business," Andros pulled up the view screen.

"Black ranger, I think I have someone you want," Astronema said through the view screen. Bulk was tied up kneeling on the ground.

"She has Bulk," Ashley commented.

"Please?" I looked to Carlos, holding the morpher out to him.

"You're walking into a trap," Carlos said, taking the morpher.

"But we have one thing up on her that she doesn't know about," I said, knowing the morpher was safe with him.

"What's going on guys?" Cassie asked.

I knew what I had to do, even if they didn't support the plan, so I ran out and transported myself down to Astronema. I figured Carlos could inform the group of my plan. I just hope they don't try to rescue me and get themselves hurt.


	6. Chapter 6

"I'm here Astronema," I confronted her.

"Ah, Black ranger, how good to see you," she said sickeningly.

Bulk looked up at me, but I couldn't bring myself to meet his gaze.

"Let him go and take me instead," I offered. I could hear Bulk grunting to try to get me to stop. His mouth was covered so he could not yell out to me.

"I was hoping you'd say that," she laughed, "Tie him up."

Three quantrons tied me up and pushed me down to the floor.

"Let him go," she ordered to Elgar, referring to Bulk, "He's useless anyway. We've captured a ranger now."

I saw Bulk was free now, so I yelled to him, "Run Bulky! It'll be ok." I finally was able to meet his gaze, knowing he was safe. I winked at him, trying to convince him I had a plan. He looked scared, but he finally started running like I told him to.

I had everything planned up until this point, but I just knew from now, I either had to find a way to escape, or I was going to die. If it was the latter, it'd be ok, because my friends are safe.

I was transported to what I assumed was Astronema's ship. She went in one direction while the quantrons and Elgar led me in another direction. I was locked in a cell, still tied up. I walked around the cell, looking for any weaknesses in the walls or in the door. Unfortunately I did not see any. Outside the cell, I couldn't see much, just a dark hallway. Then, I tried to see if I could get out of the ropes (we practiced a bit in junior police training camp), however, I could not figure a way out of them. They were tied behind my back, and then the ropes were tied around my chest, letting my arms move even less. At least I had my legs, if they could do me any good.

After accessing my situation, I decided to sit down and rest. I really couldn't do much for now. So I decided to see if there is any type of schedule. Who comes down to the cells, what do they bring, what do they say? I could maybe find a way to escape that way.

I ended up falling asleep leaning against the wall. When I awoke, there was a bowl of water in the cell. I didn't know if it was poisonous or not, so I avoided it for now. Also, with my arms tied up, I apparently had to drink it like a dog.

I forced myself to stay awake to see if anyone else came in again. It was another few hours I would guess before someone came in. It was Elgar and two quantrons.

"Come on stand up," Elgar commanded.

I stood unsure of what was going on. The quantrons untied the ropes and stepped out of a cell. Elgar put a bucket down and left the cell and locked it up. From outside he said, "That's your new bathroom." And I heard his footsteps leaving down the hall.  
Now I at least was untied. However, the door was big and heavy, with bars only about a foot long as a little window for air. I probably couldn't make it out there. Other than the bowl and the bucket, there was nothing in this room now, so there was nothing that could help me out. I could try to sneak out or attack when they come back. But that could be a while.

I sat down in the corner again and tried to keep my mind busy. I dozed off a few more times, and with barely any light, I couldn't tell the time or how long I had been in there.

Eventually, I gave in and tried the water. It didn't seem to be poisonous, which was good. I was starting to get really hungry though, but no one came. It felt like days had gone by, with no one visiting me. Maybe they were going to just let me starve to death. It'd be easier that way if they didn't want to actively kill me.

Eventually psycho red and Astronema came in to the cell. At that point I was too weak to fight from days without food, and barely any water. I stood up though, to try what I could.

"Your friends are doing poorly without the black ranger," Astronema commented. That means Carlos was still our unknown trump card.

"I'm going to go destroy them once and for all, but I wanted to give you a taste of what they will get," psycho red pulled out his sword. He left me after three hits. I was down on the ground, with parts of my arm, leg and stomach bleeding. I took off my shirt and ripped it apart to wrap my wounds. It was then when I remembered I had my spike necklace on that day. I could use it as a makeshift weapon if they come back.

I took it off and wrapped it around my hand so it was ready. Even if I had to wait a few more days.

After another couple hours, Astronema comes back in, "You gave up the black ranger powers?!" She squealed with anger trying to lash out at me. I blocked the blow. In her anger I noticed she left the door open. This could be my chance.

"They destroyed the last psycho ranger, just like I am going to destroy you for tricking me!" I used my necklace on my hand to get a good punch in, disorienting her for a few moments. That's when I ran out of the room closing the door behind her. I knew it wouldn't be long until Elgar or someone else found her, so I only had a few minutes to plan my escape.

I noticed some quantrons down a hallway, so I hid around the corner. Fortunately they didn't hear Astronema's screaming coming from the other direction. Once they were gone, I went down the hallway trying to find any way out. I could hang out on the outside of the ship if I must, as long as I wasn't inside.

Finally after about 5 minutes of searching, I found a little escape pod and climbed in. I didn't know where it would take me, but it would be better than being here. I pressed the button launching me out into space. After a minute of trying to figure out the controls, I thought I had it figured out. However, Astronema must have gotten free, because soon, her ship was shooting at me. It was a weaponless pod, and with one shot, my flight controls were offline. With another shot, I hit my head against the control panel and everything started to black out.


	7. Chapter 7

"Yeah it's him," I heard Ashley comment.  
"He looks bad," Cassie mentioned.

"I shouldn't have let him run off on his own," Carlos sounded worried.

Were they talking about me? Where am I? I can hear them but I can't respond back. I can't bring myself to open my eyes to look.

"Someone should go tell Bulk we found him," it sounded like TJ.

Bulky was safe, that's good. I zoned out again. After a while, my mind woke up again, however my body was still not responding. I heard a very light hum of machinery around me. Other than that, it was silent. After what seemed like a few minutes, I heard someone come in the room.

"Skull? Are you in there buddy?" I heard Bulk call to me. I tried to respond, but nothing was cooperating.

I heard Bulk sigh. He had been hoping for a response, if only I could give him one. I heard another person enter the room.

"Still nothing?" Carlos asked Bulk. I assume he shook his head, because I heard no response.

"I shouldn't have let him go on his own," Carlos said, voicing a type of apology to Bulk.

"He was a ranger, even if it was temporary, he put himself second to everyone else," Bulk commented, knowing how I think. He really understood me, even in the times I never voice my thoughts. I guess that is part of what makes us the best of friends.

"Hopefully he wakes up, just like I did," Carlos didn't seem to know what else to say.

"You were out about a month or two right?" Bulk asked.

"Yes. Our friend Zahne was in here for two years before waking up, so it could take him a while, but it's never a certain thing. Especially because he had brain bleeding on top of being starved for two weeks," Carlos told Bulk.

Two weeks? Brain bleeding? How hard did I hit my head. Did that have something to do with this hearing but not being able to respond? Maybe the action part of my brain is what needed to heal. It didn't seem like two weeks, but who was I to know, with no light and no clocks.

I heard Bulk and Carlos talk a bit more before I blacked out again.

I awoke, and this time, my eyes opened. I started moving my fingers to make sure my body was working. I sat up, and noticed no one was around. I stood up, my legs a little shaky. I didn't know when or what day it was.

"Deca?" I asked out loud, hoping the computer system would hear me.

"Good morning Skull, good to see you have finally woken up," It responded. It was morning apparently.

I started walking, using the wall as a crutch. The more I walked though, the more my legs were starting to warm up.

"Skull?!" Alpha said, coming around a corner.

I smiled at him.

"The rangers are at school right now," Alpha mentioned.

"Where is Bulk?" I wondered out loud.

"He got the job he had been trying for. He started last week."

Last week? "How long was I out?" I knew I had woken up a few times, but nothing really told me the time frames.

"You were on Astronema's ship for probably two weeks, and you were in the healing chamber about three."

"Three weeks isn't too bad," I comment, comparing it to Zahne's two years.

"You had bleeding in the brain and you had lost a ton of weight," Alpha said as I noticed how my pants were a little baggy on me.

I decided to take a shower and then wait for the group at the Surf Spot. I figured I'd let them finish their school day. I could see Bulk at home when he got off work. To think about it, I wasn't sure when he got off work, or where he even worked, but I knew school ended in about half an hour so the guys would be there soon.

I sat there drinking a smoothie, thinking about the events that had happened recently. I became a power ranger. I made some great new friends. My best friend got a job finally after months of searching, and I had a good feeling he would keep this one. Yeah, I almost died. Yeah, a friend almost died. The battle against Astronema isn't over, but the psychos are down. We've all accomplished so much.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when I heard a voice behind me, "Skull!" Carlos exclaimed surprised to see me.

I turned around and was greeted and hugged by the other rangers.

"Are you feeling better?" Cassie asked.

I nodded in response. Before I could get a word in, "Skull!" I hear from the door. I knew that voice anywhere. It was my best friend. He ran up to me and gave me a hug.

"Bulky!" I responded. I noticed he had a security officer outfit on, "What's with the outfit?" I asked.

"I wanted to wait until I got the job to tell you, I am working security at the school. Lt. Stone helped me get the job," Bulk told me, "I'm just glad I can do something to help people."

"I'm happy for you," I smiled.

"Come on guys, food is on me," Bulk said to celebrate his new job and to celebrate that I was awake and alive.

We had a great meal and a great conversation. I caught up on everything that happened while I was asleep. We all went our separate ways and I went home with Bulk. He was driving my car when I started up a conversation.

"It's good you got a job, because I'm not sure if I'll have one after all of that," I joked.

"I called them for you, and even went in and helped work. Obviously I don't know piano, but I helped at the food joint," Bulk confessed.

I was a bit too surprised to know how to respond. After a while I finally replied, "Thanks Bulky. For everything."

I started to confess, "I heard you, you know, up there," I pointed to the sky referring to the megaship.

"What do you mean?" he asked confused.

"It was like my mind was awake, I could hear you. But I couldn't respond. It wasn't all the time, I kept blacking out, but for a while there, I knew I heard you."

Now it was his turn to be silent for a while. As much as I know him, I was unsure what he was going to say. At this point we were sitting in our driveway parked. He turned to me, "You're my best friend. I was just so worried about you and felt like it had been my fault. You sacrificed yourself for me, you could have died. You almost did. You barely looked like you when they found you in that pod floating in space. You had gotten so much skinnier than you had before, you really did look like a skeleton."

"Maybe that's why they call me Skull," I joked to lighten the mood. To get back to the serious conversation though I mentioned, "I was just glad you and the others were safe. I knew it would be a risk, but you and the others are worth it."

"Now come on, it's getting cold out," I mentioned to change the subject. It felt nice to lay in my own bed that night. I was surprised how quickly I fell asleep considering i had just slept for like 3 weeks.

The next morning, I awoke to my phone ringing.


	8. Chapter 8

"Skull?" I heard through the phone line.

"Hello?" I replied.

"Hey man, it's Carlos. Wanna meet me at the park?"

"Sure, I'll be there soon."

I got ready and woke Bulk up, "Hey, I'm going to the park to meet Carlos."

He nodded sleepily then rolled over and fell asleep again. It was a Saturday so he didn't have to get up anyway.

I arrived at the park and saw Carlos sitting on a bench.

"Hey man," Carlos greeted.

"Hey," I responded, not sure of why exactly we were meeting.

"I wanted to talk about everything that happened. First I want to say thank you for helping me in that first fight. Thanks for stepping up the plate that I left. I shouldn't have left you that responsibility without asking."

"It's ok," I responded, "It was fun. I liked being a ranger and helping others. I'm sorry I couldn't help more in that first fight and that you got hurt."

"You helped a lot. Without you I could have died. But you helped defeat the psycho rangers," Carlos offered.

"That was pretty crazy," I admitted.

After a few moments of silence, Carlos asked an interesting question, "Would you be the black ranger again if you could?"

I took a few moments to think about it, "Of course I would. I liked helping people. But it was never my power to begin with, it was just borrowed."

"You know I was thinking, with your permission of course, there's this soccer camp that I've been offered to run. I was wondering if you'd take the black ranger powers permanently. You can have time to think about it if you want, I know it's a big responsibility to take on, especially with Astronema still out there, but I think you're great as the black ranger," Carlos offered.

It didn't take me much time to respond; my mind was already made up, "Sure. I'd be honored to be the black ranger."

"Thanks man, I haven't told the others yet, I wanted to wait until I knew your answer. Just after everything we went through, I feel like I want to enjoy my time while I have it and help these kids enjoy their time as well," he spoke from his heart.

"I know how you feel. It's crazy and it's life risking, but I'm not sure if I'd want it any other way," I admitted.

Carlos called the rangers together on the megaship.

"I've decided to step down as the black ranger. I am taking a job at an all year soccer camp. However, I am leaving the powers in good hands," Carlos cued me to enter the room.  
I walked in and everyone smiled.  
"It's great to have you aboard," Ashley commented.

"The power is in good hands," TJ confirmed.

Carlos handed his morpher off to me, before leaving the ship. Life might not return to how it used to be, but it definitely was a lot more interesting. When I got home, Bulk was on the couch watching the morning cartoons as usual. I guess some things though, will never change.


End file.
